Hard-Core Romance: "Fifty Shades of Grey," Best-Sellers, and Society

From its beginnings in <i>Twilight</i> fan-fiction to its record-breaking sales as an e-book and paperback, the story of the erotic romance novel <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i> and its two sequels is both unusual and fascinating. Having sold over seventy million copies worldwide since 2011, E. L. James's lurid series about a sexual ingénue and the powerful young entrepreneur who introduces her to BDSM sex has ingrained itself in our collective consciousness. But why have these particular novels - poorly written and formulaic as they are - become so popular, especially among women over thirty?